Rough series for rotation

Why do I have a feeling that the Reds’ faithful will be vocal and outspoken for change if Aroldis Chapman has a great start on Friday for Louisville?

After a nice first week, it’s been a lousy second week for the current five members of the Reds rotation. The starting five’s ERA was 3.11 when the road trip began on Monday and is now at 5.43 after Aaron Harang was rock-and-rolled for eight runs in four innings and a 10-2 loss.

“That’s four days in a row I had to go to the bullpen early,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “We need some quality innings so we don’t kill those guys.”

The only good news is the Reds got a four-game series split after those starts. The bad news is they won the first two games and could have won the series.

With the Astros win for Bud Norris today, the Reds rotation became the lone group without a victory in the big leagues this season.

For only his second pro/big league start on Friday in Pittsburgh, Mike Leake suddenly is needed to be a stopper of sorts. He will be leaned on more than would normally be liked to go deep and provide some innings.

Do you think Leake can do it?

And will Chapman’s outing, if successful, speed up the clock for a promotion?

Like this:

Related

6 Comments

I’m not gonna lie, i think it’s time to say goodbye to Harang. He’s a great guy and he used to be a great pitcher, but he hasn’t been the same since he was used in relief vs. the Padres two years ago. i think it’s time to DFA him and call up Chapman. Not worried about Bailey or Cueto, both guys are young and young pitchers will have down games, especially against a lineup as good as the Marlins. And i think whether he says it or not Arroyo is still feeling the affects of a line drive off the calf. I think he’s fine next time out.

I’m with RR on this one. Pitching is the strength of the team and will come round, including Harang. I have another question – does this lineup strikeout so much (year after year) because of the players in it, or the batting philosophy? Of all the things ealy this season, the K’s really standout.

Funny you should mention that. I think some of the players are simply strikeout batters, but then again you have players like Joey Votto striking out and he’s a disciplined batter. Sooner or later Jacoby’s job needs to be looked at. I wish Pete Rose wasn’t banned. I bet (no pun intended) he’d make a good hitting coach.

One bad start? have you been watching him the last 2 years? Harang has a good start every now and then like he did against the Cubs, but most of the time it’s 5-6 innings and 5+ runs. and this is the supposed ace of the staff. we are already 0-3 when he starts. how much longer are we supposed to wait for him to come back to form?

Archives

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.